PNW Seattle 40 & Over USTA League on track to start March 5th

Back in early December, the Pacific Northwest section of the USTA announced that leagues scheduled to begin in January would be posted until at least March.   This was a result of coronavirus restrictions in much if not all of Washington and Oregon being in phase 1 and not allowing indoor play at all at the time, and the likelihood that the restrictions would not be lifted in days or weeks.

Thankfully, early January did bring a modified phase 1 in some areas that did allow for play indoors with restrictions including wearing masks while playing, but no tournaments or leagues allowed.

Late this week, it was announced that the greater Seattle area would be moving to phase 2 this coming Monday, and with it our area League Coordinator sent an e-mail out to captains saying that our 40 & Over league would indeed be starting on March 5th.

Now, this does not mean league play will be fully back to normal when play begins in 5 weeks.  As I understand it, wearing masks will still be required during play, and as a result some players not comfortable with that may opt not to play, so players and captains need to be clear on this before joining teams.

I also expect that in order to help adhere to strict court times and minimize interaction between players coming/going/watching, we may still be using timed matches and facilities will ask that players leave promptly when play on a court is finished.

Here are important dates for this league:

• 2/1 - Teams must be registered
• 2/8 - Teams must have at least 7 players registered
• 2/19 - Schedule published
• 3/5 - 4/25 - Regular season of 6-7 matches per team
• 4/30 - 5/2 - Local playoffs
• 8/27 - 8/29 - Sectionals

All of the above is subject to change of course should the coronavirus situation change, but my fingers are crossed we can stay at or progress from phase 2 and continue to be able to play.

I have not heard if other areas in PNW are similarly moving to phase 2 and on track to begin league play in March, but I'll update as I hear more, or readers can leave a comment with what they've heard.